Improvement in mole-plows



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL ADAMS, OE TOULON, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN iVlOLE-PLOWS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 27,283, dated February 28, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known. that I, SAMUEL ADAMS, of Toulon, in the county of Stark and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mole-Flows, whereby the drain produced is more perfect at the bottom than. heretofore; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the construction and operat'on of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference therein, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section. Fig. Zis an elevation of 'the base of the plow. Fig. 3 is a rear view of the first mole, and Fig. 4 is arear View of the following mole.

Similar letters refer to like parts in all the figures. l

lhe effect of a mole-plow is to open ach anne] through the earth in which the superiluous moisture of the earth may escape. The channel is produced by forcing away the earth in ,such a manner that it is highly compressed at some or all points inthe immediate vicinity of the drain. rIhis great pressure is desirable at the top and sides in order to aid the cohesion of the earth and prevent the immediate refilling ofthe drain, butis objectionable ou account of the earth so compressed often becoming almost orquite impervious to water. Itis therefore desirable to leave the under side of the drain in as nearly its natural condition as possible, in order to allow the ready inux of water from that direction. It is also desirable to provide a groove along the lower side of the drain which shall confine the water within narrow limits when, as is usual, the quantity Howing is very small. Among the means devised to ei'ect these desirable objects has been the employment of a knife projecting down from the lower edge of the plow 5 but this has per` formed butimperfectl y, because the knife itself necessarily compresses the earth to some extent.

The nature of my invention consists in scooping up the earth along a suitable groove at the base of the drain, and instead of compressing it in any manner into the earth immediately adjacent, causing it to traverse through snitable channels in the body ofthe plow, and ultin mately to be compressed into the sides or top of the drain. By this means I produce a groove at the base of my drain which is narrow and smooth to allow a ready channel for the water to ow along, even if the quantity is small and the inclination very inconsiderable, and also insure an absolute freedom from compression of the adjacent earth immediately in contact with or which forms the boundaries of such groove; but little force is required to scrape up a small quantity of earth when the space above the scraper is clear and the earth `acted on has previously been but very slightly compressed. The action is obviously of such 4character that my scoop or scraper is readily adapted to produce the effect desired without a possibility of compressing the earth beneath and at thc sides of the groove thus formed.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the colter, which is of any forni and material adopted in other mOle-plows. It is attached in any suitable manner to the beam B, and is provided with any of the means in use for inducing the filling up or stopping of the deep narrow channel produced in its passage through the earth.

C is the main body or mole of my plow, and D is the trailing or pushing portion. The transverse section of D is very similar to that of C, but is a little larger, which increase of section so compresses the earth as to close up the incision left by the colter A. D is pro-- vided at its front with a connect-ion, d, which locks into aswivel, E, which latter is mounted in the rear of C, as represented.

The under side or face of G may be either plane or hollowed, as represented. The earth at the base ofthe drain is consequently left in a condition nearly plane and very little compressed. Fis thescrap'er. It cuts out and 4lifts the earth to form the narrow groove desired along the base of the drain. It is firmly secured to C by any convenient means, and standsat such an angle that thc earth loosed thereby is conveyed upward. In the base of C, immediately above or a little in the rear of F, I make aV cavity, M. I extend this cavity by a double passage, M on M u, diverging gradually, as represented, from this point to the eXtreme rear of C. rIhe earth lifted by F is by the progressive motion of the plow induced to rise and to enter M, and to flow through the channels M m and M n and escape at the rear. After emergingfrommand nitis caught by the inclined faces of D, andis finally compressed into the sides or top of the drain, where it permanently remains.

I make the channels M m M a very smooth, and extend them as directly as may be from F to the most convenient and desirable points of discharge in order to secure the ultimate compression of the earth into the sides or top of the drain. I make the bends or turns therein as gradual as possible, and prefer to make the area ofthe channels increase backward, M being slightlylarger than the area of the crosssection ofthe groove produced by F in the earth, and the channels M m M u increasing in section from thence rearward. This form allows the earth to pass readily through without clogging.

The knives and analogous devices heretofore employed to groove the soil at the base of a drain have all compressed the earth to a greater or less extent, especially when their edges or points have become in any wise dulled and rounded by use. My invention differs radically therefrom in opposing no obstacle other than the gravity of the particles to prevent the ready rise ofthe earth which is to be removed to form the groove. My scraper F will therefore keep sharp for along period and will never sensibly compress the earth so long as the channels M m M a are kept open by the free escape of the earth at the rear. connection l E allows the trailing mole D to adapt itself to the irregularities in the soil, and

to follow in any curved path described by the leading or main mole (l.

If it be preferred for any purpose, the trailing mole D may be duplicated, and a series of such plows so connected, either of the same size or a gradually-increasin g size, may be made to follow each other by attaching another or others to the rear of D.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The construction of mole-plow herein described, whereby the earth in the groove at the base of the drain is excavated land conveyed to the side or top of the drain, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

SAML. ADAMS.

Witnesses:

DAVIS Lowa/IAN, JOHN W. DENNING.

The swiveled' 

